Keeping up with the pace of change

The speed, scale and depth of change due to the impact of technology on existing industries and employment is unprecedented.

However, UK Digital Strategy 2017 states that over £63 billion of GDP per year is lost to the UK economy due to digital skills shortages.

Currently thousands of children in the UK are missing out on the computing education they deserve, the BCS-run Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science (NoE) can and is making a positive difference. For example, in those schools offering GCSE computer science, that are part of the NoE, larger numbers of students achieve better grades than in schools that are not part of the NoE.

We’ve made great progress so far but much more needs to be done if we are to close the digital skills gap and drive future economic growth in the UK.

Recent changes such as new subject content for GCSE Computer Science and the demise of GCSE ICT mean we urgently need to act and accelerate the development of teaching capacity, capability and confidence.